CAT'S
IN THE CRADLE "Music is, to
me, proof of the existence of God. It is so extraordinarily full of
magic, and in tough times of my life I can listen to music and it makes
such a difference," said Kurt Vonnegut in 2002. Tonight, at Goodbye
Blue Monday, a bunch of musicians get together to play songs they've
written about Vonnegut's 1963 novel, Cat's Cradle.
Make him proud, guys.
Goodbye Blue
Monday
// 1087 Broadway, Brooklyn // 8p // It's free, we think // more
info // directions
SOUL
TRAIN
Ravi
Coltrane, the second son of
Alice and John Coltrane and the namesake of Ravi Shankar, does more
than stand in the shadows of his predecessors. He plays the saxophone
beautifully, with similar breath, control and tone to his father but
with a style that is lyrical, distinct and contemporary. Tonight he
begins a five-night run with his quartet at The Iridium.
Iridium // 1650 Broadway,
Manhattan // 8.30p and 10p // $30 // more
info // directions
COIN GOT YOUR TONGUE?
The likely comparison for Coin
Under Tongue is the also louder
than loud A Place To Bury Strangers, who have close ties to them
through Death By Audio, a studio, guitar pedal factory, record label
and venue where the band plays tonight. They are so much more than just
another eardrum shredding band, though. All of their songs are
decisively metal, but there are huge twists: some are rooted in Delta
Blues, others contain New Wave ephemera, and others are deep-pocket
post-punk stompers. It's rugged, raw, and we like it.
Death
By Audio // 49 S 2nd St,
Brooklyn // 8p // $6 // more
info // directions
DREAM
COME TRUE Todd P
keeps telling us about Teengirl Fantasy, which initially bodes well for
a band (though he did call his taste into question when he put this
song on after we'd finished our
sets at Mister Saturday Night one morning). The band is a pair of guys
making multiple-personalitied music with samples of booty bass vocals,
sitar and barking dogs among other things. You can tell they've done
their homework, studying in the ways of both Kompakt and Green
Velvet, and when they play live,
they get into it, which we appreciate. Tonight they return home to
Brooklyn from a tour, getting heady, down and deep in the basement of
Monster Island.
The
Monster Island Basement // 128 River St, Brooklyn // 8p // price to be
announced, but we're sure it's not more than $10 // more info
// directions
HOT
JAZZ, COLD WEATHER The Winter
Jazzfest returns to New York for its sixth year, presenting an insane
lineup of artists at five venues over the course of two nights. This
evening, most of our favorites from both evenings play. Organist Dr. Lonnie Smith
is at Sullivan Hall, pianist Vijay Iyer
is at LPR, sax player JD Allen
is at Kenny's Castaway's, and the little-known Michael Bellar and his As-Is
Ensemble play a late slot at The
Bitter End, and if you are clever and quick, you can catch every single
one of them, for $25 at that.
at
multiple village-based locations // Manhattan // 5.45p - 4a // $25 for
one night, $30 for both nights // more
info
GOT
THE POWER The Met is in the
midst of a show focusing on the development of American culture as seen
through the eyes of American painters. One of our favorite pieces in
the show, not surprisingly, is "The
Power of Music", an 1847
portrait of a black man who's taking a break from his work to listen in
to a young white boy playing the fiddle. There have been many readings
of this painting, racist and otherwise, since it was first shown, but
we like the reading of transcendence and togetherness by the great
contemporary artist Kara Walker (responsible for these
iconic images) from a recent Met
podcast.
Metropolitan
Museum of Art // 1000 5th Ave,
Manhattan // 9.30a - 5.30p // suggested admission of $20, but you can
pay what you wish // exhibition is on view through January 24 // more
info
// directions
